The John Pearson Soda Works, also known as the Placerville Soda Works, is a historic rustic Victorian brick building in Placerville, El Dorado County, California. The building in the Gold Country region was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on December 12, 1985. From 2003 to 2018, the building was home to the Cozmic Café.

History

The John Pearson Soda Works building was constructed in several stages: the previous building on this site burned down during the devastating fire that struck much of Placerville in the 1850s. Scottish immigrant John McFarland Pearson built the lower part of the building in 1859 as a commercial ice house. He chose to build in front of the shaft of an inactive mine to use underground rooms and tunnels to store ice at a controlled temperature. In addition, the walls of this section were made 22 inches (0.56 m) thick to keep the ice in the storefront cool. Pearson later expanded his soda water business; his sons added a brick second floor in 1897 for bottling. They added a water elevator to transport the product from each level. The store also sold other products such as eggs and beer.

20th century

The business changed hands several times, although the building remained in the Pearson family for some time. Pearson’s sons sold the business in 1904 to Scherrer Bros. who, in turn, sold it in 1934 to Robert Hook, who turned it into a Coca-Cola Bottling franchise.

The building was occupied by other businesses until the Pearson family sold the building in 1972 to antique collector Roger John Dover, who restored the building over four years, using the lower part as an old-fashioned soda fountain and the upper part as an elegant dining room decorated in the style of the early 20th century. Dover’s daughter successfully listed the building on the National Register of Historic Places. The building also housed a theater, an antique store, a bookstore, a music store, and the Placerville Coffee Shop before it became The Cozmic Café in 2003.

Another soda factory building nearby, the Fountain-Tallman Soda Works, is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.